Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
I just returned from a glorious Seattle vacation, stopping in an airport bookstore to see what I missed for a week. Here’s what I gathered from the newsstands: Bristol broke it off, Chelsea tied the knot, California judge reversed Proposition 8, Time published a startling cover on Afghanistan, Shaq will go to Boston, and Brett Favre joked about retiring.
When I was still living in the Chicago suburbs, every time Rod Blagojevich’s name was mentioned, eyes were rolled. Who could believe that the great people of Illinois voted him into the highest position in the state not once but twice?
Remember last month when the big statue of Jesus was struck by lightning and burned to the ground? Well, one reporter is trying to squeeze as much juice out of the story as possible.
Did someone up there fail to get the memo that the National Enquirer isn’t exactly the most trusted outlet on earth?
Believe it or not, not all evangelicals attend a megachurch. In fact, if you check out this top graph from the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, you’ll see that 59 percent of churches nationwide have an attendance of seven to 99 people.
Remember the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright? It’s been a few years since the White House campaign, so let’s review. Wright was President Obama’s pastor who made controversial remarks in his sermons, such as suggesting the U.S. should be damned. Obama gave a speech on race and religion and eventually broke ties with Wright during the 2008 campaign.
After spending a summer covering several soldiers’ deaths through the eyes of their tearful friends and family members, I know it’s not easy to profile someone after their death. I can imagine the challenges confronting the Arizona Republic reporter who covered the death of a local street preacher.
When it’s too good to be true, it is, at least for some New York Times reporters writing a prisoner conversion story.
Kate Murphy recently wrote for The New York Times about the proliferation of dream groups where people gather to discuss their sleep experiences. The story is mostly experience-quote-experience-”expert” opinion, but I was glad she at least mentioned that dreams might be associated with religion.
